Eraser-cleaner.



PATENTED FEB 24, 1903.. R. J. RILEY.

' ERASER CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

%1' mm% I WZEE UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT J. RILEY, OF ZION CITY, ILLINOIS.

ERAS ER CLEAN ER.

, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 721,237, datedFebruary 24, 1903.

Application filed June 23, 1902.

To all whom it may concern:

Beitknown that'l, ROBERT J.RILEY, a citizen of the United Statearesidingat Zion City,

1 in the county ofLake and'State of Illinois,h'ave invented a new anduseful'Eraser-Oleaner, of which the following is aspecification.

Thisinvention relates" to 'improvements in blackboard-eraser cleaners;and the object thereof is to. provide an instrument of theabovecharacter with. which a plurality of erasers can be simultaneouslycleaned and held at a convenient distance from the operator to avoid thedisagreeableifeature and annoyance of the escaping dust. It furthermoredoes away with the objectionable manner of cleaning erasers upon thewindow-sills or walls of school buildings. j

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described in the following specification; butit will be apparent that the construction set forth is open to variouschanges and modifications within the scope of the claims heretoappended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved cleanerl1 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the same, showing thetwo elements in their normal position. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional viewthrough one of the arms.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawlugs. I

In the preferred embodiment of the invention a pair of handle-blocks 10are employed, one of which is provided at one end with a pair of ears11, that embrace the corresponding end of the other section. These earsare pivoted to said section by a suitable rivet12. The other ends of thehandle-blocks carry spring-arms 13, that are movable toward and fromeach other upon the movement of the blocks and are constructed tosupport the erasers with their rubbing-faces in opposing relation, aswill be clearly seen. As these arms are similar in all respects, but oneneed be described. It is formed of a looped wire 14, constituting a pairof spaced arms 15, arranged to embrace the eraser, as shown, these armshaving inwardly-extending bearing portions 16. The terminals of the wireare embedded, as shown at 17, in the handle-block,

Serial No. 112,924. (No model.)

and a suitable staple 18 may also be employed for more securelyfastening said wire. In the present construction two arms are arrangedupon each block 10, thoughmore or less may be employed, as desired, andthese arms are connected by a cross-brace 19, fastened to intermediateportions of the side rods 15, comparatively close to the adjacent end ofthe handle-block. =-Spring retainingfingers 2O are also attached to thehandle-block by means of staples 21, these fingers being also secured tothe cross-brace 19 and having their ends free and provided with eyes, as22. A lender in the form of a rubber block 23 is interposed between thehandle-blocks, being embedded in one and arranged to abut against theother tonormally hold the spring-arms in slightly-spaced relation, asshown in Fig. 2.

In using this device the erasers 24 are secured in the ends of the armsbetween the spaced rods, which practically form seats for the same.These rods engage in the usual grooves 25, formed in the opposite sidefaces of the erasers, thus securely holding them against lateralmovement. Their longitudinal displacement is prevented by the springarms20, the free ends 22 of-which bear against the ends of the eraser andhold them at the ends of the arms. Theerasers are thus held with theirrubbing-faces 26 in opposing relation, and the operator, grasping thehandleblocks and holding the arms away from the body, may readily beatthe erasers-together. During the movement of the arms toward each otherthe bufier 23 will bring the blocks to a quick stop, and the resiliencyof the arms will permit the erasers to come together. They willimmediately spring apart, however, and thus the dust and dirt releasedby the impact can readily escape. The erasers may be held sufficientlyfar from the operator to prevent any annoyance from the escaping dust,and the apparatus is very advantageous in this one particular.Furthermore, it will entirely obviate the necessity ofbeating out theerasers upon Window-sills or walls of buildings, an obj ectionablepractice which is now almost universally followed.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion,and minordetails of construction may be resorted to without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is- V 1. In an eraser-cleaner,coactingoppositelyarranged arms,and means for securing erasers upon the armswith their rubbing-faces in opposing relation.

2. In an eraser-cleaner, the combination with pivotally-associated armsmovable toward and from each other, of means for securing erasers uponthe arms with their rubbingfaces in opposing relation.

3. In an eraser-cleaner, plvotally-associated arms movable toward andfrom each other, and having seats adapted to receive and hold eraserswith their rubbing-faces in opposing relation.

4. In an eraser-cleaner, the combination with pivotally-associated armsmovable toward and from each other, of means for securing erasers uponthe arms with their rubbing-faces in opposing relation, and a yieldingdevice for normally holding the arms a slight distance apart.

5. In an eraser-cleaner, the combination with pivotally-associatedspring-arms movable toward and from each other, of a stop or bufferinterposed between the arms to limit their movement toward each other,and means for securing erasers upon the arms with their rubbing-faces inopposing relation.

6. In an eraser-cleaner, pivotally-associated spring-arms movable towardand from each other and comprising spaced rods arranged to embrace theerasers and hold them with their rubbing-faces in opposing relation.

7. In an eraser-cleaner, the combination with pivotally-associatedspring-arms movable toward and from each other and comprising spacedrods arranged to embrace the erasers and hold them with theirrubbingfaces in opposing relation, of holding-fingers arranged betweenthe rods of the arms and engaging the ends of the erasers.

8. In an eraser-cleaner of the class described, the combination withpivotally-connected handle-blocks movable toward and from each other, ofa buffer interposed between the blocks to limit their movement towardeach other, and spring-arms attached to the blocks and comprising spacedrods arranged to embrace the erasers and hold them with theirrubbing-faces in opposing relation.

9. In an eraser-cleaner, the combination with handle-blocks pivotedtogether at one end, of a rubber bufier interposed between the blocks tolimit their movement toward each other, spring-arms attached to the freeends of the blocks and comprising looped wires having their endsfastened to the blocks, said looped wires being arranged to embrace theerasers and hold them with their rubbingfaces in opposing relation, andspring retaining-fingers secured to the arms and located within theloops to engage the ends of the eraser.

10. In an eraser-cleaner, the combination with handle-blocks pivotedtogether at one end, of spring-arms attached to the blocks andcomprising looped wires arranged to embrace the erasers and hold themwith their rubbing-faces in opposing relation, and springretaining-fingers secured to the arms and located within the loops toengage the ends of the eraser.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT J. RILEY. Witnesses:

C. H. ESTREM, U. G. BLosE.

